1. (1.9) Watching the secular movie A CHRISTMAS STORY: “It was my first time to see it, and I really enjoyed it.” “A cute movie and very relaxing,” “You can never go wrong with a movie,” “I love movies and love to be entertained,” “First, because I enjoy the holidays and doing something related to them,” “First, it helped a lot when writing the essay made the whole process fun,” “Last, because I’ve seen the movie so many times,” “First, because it reminds me why I should never give up,” “I went home and saw the movie with my kids and my husband which was great doing something with my family that pertained to school,” “First, because watching the movie really made me feel the Christmas spirit,” “First, for the memories of Christmas and the spirit it brings me,” “First, because I love this time of year,” “First, because it has always been my all time favorite Christmas movie,”

2. (3.0) Jean Shepherd Trivia/Crossword Puzzle Activity: “It was fun just to relax and answer the questions in a fun way,” “A good crossword puzzle but I’m not good at them so this is rated last,” “Last, because I am not big on crossword puzzles,” “First, because it was fun and not thinking about essays,” “Last because it didn’t teach me anything about reading and writing,” “Last, because it didn’t have anything to do with reading or writing,” “Last, because I did not find anything important to learn about reading and writing.”

3. (3.08) Writing your own Christmas story (based on a personal incident) : “Easier to write something about me,” “First, because it took me back to my childhood, lots of good memories to write about,” “First, because I love to tell my story,” First because it was easy and fun,” “First, because I got to use my imagination,” “First, because I actually had fun thinking of past experiences,” “First, because I remembered how happy we were that day,” “First because I could write my own story, not an assignment,” “Last, because, because I didn’t have a good personal incident, so I had to make up most of it,” “First because it reminded me of when I was a little boy and the joy of opening presents with my family,”

4. (3.66) Assessing your Skills as a Reader/Writer (Pre-Assessment Activity): “…first time I saw something good in me in writing and reading which helped in boosting my confidence,” “Last because it was hard for me to face my flaws,” “Wasn’t as enjoyable as the other lessons,” “Last, because I don’t like to boost or say what I’m good at,” “Last, because I didn’t understand it,” “First, because it showed me what progress I’d made,” “First because it’s a good idea to help keep motivated and focused,” “Last, because I didn’t know how to describe my strengths or weaknesses and was confused,” “First, because helping me evaluate where I needed help so that I took extra notes afterward when we came to areas I needed help in and also asked extra questions in areas I needed help with to make sure I understood,” “First, because it showed me what I learned from the beginning of class until the last day,” “First, as a good way of assessing my skills and measure my progress,”

5. (3.84) Good and Bad Santa based on A Christmas Story Santa versus a professional “Summer Camp trained” Santa (compare/contract essay): “Got to work with a partner and compare ideas,” “Last, because not enough information to write a clear essay on,” “Last, because it was a hard essay to write,” “First for being the most fun, and I understood it the most. Also, because we had a partner,” “First, because I have never written an essay with two people which was a very good experience,” “Last, because I don’t have much interest in Santa and don’t enjoy writing about them,” “Last, because it was so hard to write about,” “Last, because I couldn’t put it together ina one page essay,” “First, because it was fun to work with a partner,”

6. (4.42) “Meet the Author” Reflective Writing Assignment: “ Last, because I didn’t enjoy the book much,” “First, because getting to meet Wes Moore was extraordinary, “First, because of the author’s wise words,” “Last, because it was a story I couldn’t relate to from my perspective,” “First because I got to meet a famous author,” “I really connected with his writing, knowing there are others like myself starting out at rock-bottom and moving up in life,” “Last, because it was hard for me to answer all the questions,” “Last, because because it didn’t really interest me,” “First, because I had never met an author before,”

7. (5.24) “The Schwinn Panther” (audio story/comprehension questions) fashioned after Jean Shepherd’s Christmas story: Comments – “It was boring would have been better reading it than listening to it”, “Though it was lovely, I don’t enjoy audio books, prefer reading them,” “Boring and difficult to understand and answer the question,” “Not much class interaction with classmates, just listening,” “No fun just listening to a recording, uninteresting, no excitement,” “I’m not a fan of audio reading. I tend to not get interested or fall asleep (sorry!) But hopefully the next time I read this it will be without audio,” “Not interesting, and I don’t like to be read to. I like to read myself,” “Last, because I didn’t like the way the author told the story which was kind of boring,” “Last, because I didn’t understand it much,” “It was hard to follow in the audio and the guy would vere off to something that was not on the paper,” Personally, I didn’t like the way the guy talked and it bored me,” “Last, because we didn’t need to know about him,” “Last, because I lose focus easily while listening and didn’t understand what the writer was trying to say,” “Enjoyed reading about the boy and his bicycle, and it was similar to A CHRISTMAS STORY,” “Last, because it did not interest me like the movie,” “Last, because I was not too entertained and kind of hard to follow and did not relate to the story,” “Last, I really wasn’t into the story,” “Last, because it was an audio story, and I understand it better when I read it, myself.”